This application is generally directed to surgical access devices and more particularly to surgical access systems for surgical robotics or irregularly shaped instruments.
Surgical robotics has been gaining acceptance and seeks to replace or assist in particular surgical procedures. In particular, some surgical assistance provided by surgical robotics is designed to alleviate complicated or repetitive tasks. However, surgical robotics provides challenges where procedures performed by a surgeon without robotic assistance would not encounter. One such area is with surgical access devices used in surgery to facilitate the introduction of various surgical instruments into natural biological vessels, conduits, orifices, cavities, and other interior regions of the body. Surgical robotic instruments or actuators impose other restrictions that are not encountered or not a limitation with other surgical instruments or actuators, e.g., a surgeon's hand. Such challenges are further exasperated by the limited or restricted surgical area or environment. For example, the surgical environment may require an introduction of laparoscopic or particular sized instruments or actuators into the abdomen of the body and/or introduced into regions that include fluid or gas under pressure.